Anton Slepyshev demoted, Andrew Miller recalled

The Oilers made a roster move on Wednesday, sending little-used Russian winger Anton Slepyshev to the minors and bringing back the speedy Andrew Miller, a minor-league scorer capable of playing both wing and centre.

The demotion of Slepyshev is probably overdue from a development perspective, though it’s also tough to blame the Oilers for keeping him up in the majors given their current shortage of manpower. Slepyshev picked up a single assist in 10 games as his ice time was held below 9:00 per game, but he should immediately be a feature scorer at the AHL level and get far more ice time than he received in the NHL.

The addition of Miller gives the Oilers some options. As with Slepyshev, he can play the wing if need be, but with Connor McDavid now lost to injury it’s far from certain that happens. He might plausibly slide into the Oilers’ vacant second-line centre position; he might also take on a role lower in the rotation, allowing either Mark Letestu or Anton Lander to advance up the depth chart.

It’s a small move, in the grand scheme of things, but a sensible one. It gives Slepyshev, a prized prospect, the chance to play some real minutes and have an honest impact on the game; he’s likely to be better for his time in the AHL. It also gives the Oilers a more versatile option in Miller, something that they’re going to need as they try to adapt to life post-McDavid.

42 Comments |

I don’t care what they do anymore. jk good move, lets just try to win some games and ice the best weve got until February. Ive had the same injury as Connor, and i was much older and not in good shape. I seriously think he’ll be back January.

Big and strong don’t mean anything if you don’t play like it! I’d like to see some players emerge who have more of a physical element in their game, a type of grit that doesn’t take a night off. How many of the games has Slepyshev been invisible in this year? I can only hope T-Mac can coax this out of players, once they learn how to “play right”! Competition and depth alone may not do it without some coaching!

And one should question the goalie coach too if both tenders are making some of the same mistakes positionally, leading to soft goals that are costing them games.

The last two games mcdavid had zero points. He still played amazing but there is still comfort in knowing the boys can win when Connor isn’t supernova. This is a very good thing and boads well for the future until he gets back.

Different men transition their skillsets from the AHL to the NHL their own ways,some have it easy and some not….a BEAST like Big-Yak has it easier because he has the Hammer every time he is on the ice if he wants to use it.He can dominate physiclly and dictate many things on the ice,when he hits you he REMOVES you he doesnt just impede you.

Just run Yakimov against Ference 100 times or against Sekera,down the wing hard,down the middle hard,taking the body every time looking to steamroll the d-men….end of story.

Mac-L is responsible for planning and implementing congruent impactfull Process catalysed CONTACT….he has to compensate for it tacticlly and he and JW have NOT been executing on this issue.In the bottom of the Habs game they finally did,then they dumped the bed,then they brought it back with Philly again in the bottom of the game .

To my eye they neglected including Physical contact as a core value driver when they designed their Process.They did not consider it to be process managed .As a result it is not there when and where it is needed and it is poorly managed and supported within the Process when it is there.

Roy is in Europe not a chance. If feel some body took away something very dear to me and that was Mac David!!! But I believe everything happens for a reason and this team will do better because of it!!!!???? Do not worry be happy oilers funs… Believe in PC and coaching staffs!

First off it was no”accident” and it was not a “hockey play gone wrong”.

When Conner exited his zone he had a confirmed trailer with him. When he exited the n-zone he did not , during this final zone transit the defensive coverage had a read on 2 Oilers busting down the wing BUT then one Oiler exited the dynamic after DRAWING expedient defensive coverage to the puck carrier….everyone was converging already when he peeled off.

The hand that turned Conners right hip was the catalyst of the fall by Conner…he caught the edge because his center of gravity was twisted or torqued around on him,the opponent DIRECTED Conners body mechanics and it WAS AN INTENTIONAL PART OF THE PLAYACTION.

It WAS A DIRTY PLAY…clearly.

WTF??? None of you people saw the hand of fate attatched to Conners body on the play or on replay??

I saw EVERYONE ON THE ICE WATCHING CONNER,no one supporting him,no process being actioned.

WTF??

Coaches…X…no communication…because..no line leadersip.
Linemates.X…no clear communication/left baby Bro alone in Enemy zone..XXXX
Refs……X…no call? Missed the Hand of Fate on Conners hip or what?
Opponent..X..you plick you corkscrewed him knowing within reason what would likely happen.
Oilers Mgmt..X…you derelict buggers…you missed the hip twist or not? You watch the replay or not.
Wayne Gretzky..X…use you influences optimally this is ANOTHER case of Peer disrespect….you saw the center of Gravity manipulated from the OPTIMAL SPOT..the hip….call it straight Wayne or stick to Oprah Winfrey
Bookclub Tours.

The 2nd Flyer in made efforts to seperate himself from what he saw as a dangerous collision, the other Flyer who caused the dangerous dynamic rode Conner forward.

One Flyer made IMHO a dirty EXTREMELY DANGEROUS PLAY corkscrewing Conner at the hip at that speed in that location and dynamic
…..and one did not.

It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s spilt milk. Let’s distinguish ourselves a bit from our friends on the coast and quit complaining about whether or not there should have been a call. You have to believe that if the supplementary discipline guys could have justified sticking their noses in they would have.

It’s time to turn this around. By this I mean the record. The worst thing that could happen happened. We faced our most feared monster. We can roll under our bed sheets and cry until our golden boy returns or we can play without fear and kick everyone butts.

If it is just the break with screws and the plate it will start to feel real good in 14 days. By the end of the first month the staples should be out. Physio started with me in the 3rd week. Obviously I don’t play hockey but was cleared for work at the 6th week. (lot of lifting in my line of work) Turned out I had plenty of other serious muscle loss and ligament tears which really set me back.
I didn’t have great doctors and I imagine Connor has the best available.
I tell you the way he got up and skated immediately and sat there really without emotion was amazing. I’m hoping it was just the break as I remember within 2 weeks the x rays showed amazing bone growth (clouding around clavicle). He will def come back stronger but when anyone pushes or punches him in that area…. I think we’ll see some emotion. ?

I love Todd M’s presser. That is why I believe we have one of the best coaches in the league.

Specifically, he continues to redirect all the questions about McD to the team. He is doing his best to focus on tomorrow, and the positive things that are happening. What a breath of fresh air.

Eberle – back soon!! – tremendous hockey player
Dr. Drai – 7 points in three games!!!
Hall – On an absolute tear right now!!
Nuge – Playing outstanding in both zones and starting to score!!
Nurse/Davidson/Reinhart – You can see the confidence really starting to grow
Sekera – Starting to look like the prized acquisition we believed he was
Klefbom – up to speed and look out, this guy is fantastic.
Lander/Purcell – Had their best games of the season and hope they can keep it rolling
Henderson – What can you say…he is doing everything and motivates others, our newest catalyst.
Goaltending – much better than last year, will continue to get better as we go and defense continues to improve.
Yak – Yak needs a goal, preferably a one timer from the faceoff dot on a beauty feed from Drai…needs his confidence back right away.

What I am saying is that this year is NOT over, we have the depth to get there. 2 bounces and we could be 7-6 right now. So lets all just keep our playoff and meaningful games dream, it’s gonna happen this year.

“Henderson – What can you say…he is doing everything and motivates others, our newest catalyst. Goaltending – much better than last year, will continue to get better as we go and defense continues to improve.”

Its Hendricks, not Henderson.

And the goaltending is not very good (but not as bad as last year). Nilsson almost cost us the game, while his counterpart, a career backup goalie, stole the show. That is the kind of goaltending we will need when playing the tougher Playoff teams. Talbot also needs to play better. We know he can play better, he has shown flashes of it, but if we want to contend on any given night, we need consistency from our Goaltenders.

Sleppy’s a little overdue for the move. With all that PC said about keeping LD as a center I would suspect that he’ll be the #2C until it isn’t working anymore.
This is a big game tomorrow night. This team has the opportunity to demonstrate that there are good things happening besides McDavid here and to really show that the gong show is over.

…jeffer…look at that… you get all those cheers for name calling…got a take on any of what newage (rhymes with sewage) has to say ? yup it’s kinda like spew and it really just never gets to be over with him but ‘biggest idiot on the planet’ ? is that all y’got?

He is an idiot…that’s not my fault. As for my take on it…it was an unfortunate hockey play. It sucks and it’s devastating for McDavid, the Oilers, and the fans. I am just as upset as anyone else but it happens. He caught an edge and fell awkwardly. The flyers players fell on him. That’s all that happened. If he doesn’t fall they likely don’t either and he just takes a big hit. There was no intent on their part and anyone who thinks it was dirty is an idiot.

Player respect is the issue here and IMHO the NHL represented by Bettman and the NHL Head of Officiating who dances to Bettmans tune did not take a pro-active role in establishing a safe league level of respect for Conner and what he means to the NHL.Calling 5 or 6 more penalties earlier in he year would have helped set this tone.

A Hands-Off policy should have already been underway.It was not.

Players league-wide disespect the Oilers and we all know it,they disrespect the Oildrop which seems to have no price tag attatched to it anymore .

This disrespect has been FOSTERED by Bettmans officials REFUSING TO CALL AN INORDINATE NUMBER OF PENALTIES AGINST THE OILERS OPPOSITION.Logic dictates and evidence shows the Oilers have been jobbed for over a decade by Refs and opposition GMs to punish them for the Dynasty groups destruction of the league.Bettman has done nothing to stop this,he has sat by and watched the last 4 #1 overall picks get the snot kicked out of them…then as his masterpiece he allowed a GENERATIONAL PLAYER to enter the NHL under his derelict watch and be DESTROYED by an irresponsible disrespectfull play catalysed because there WAS NO HANDS OFF POLICY IN PLACE….not by Bettman and not by Katz-PC-Mac-L or Conners Temmates.

Bettman is due to go,enough is enough, we need sanity restored to the NHL and we need to reverse some of Bettmans impacts,he was a shark brought in o sell the game who stuck around far to long and pushed his agendas for so long he has actually negatively impacted the game with his overt manipulation of officiating interpretations as he tried to clean up NHL hockey and make it more marketable,he has done all he can do in fact 3 years ago he was done.

We need to get one Ref off the ice and onto the bench to oversee video work in todays game,allow one NHL Official to again control entire games properly,to send one congruent message for 60 minutes.We need to clarify the message now,2 Refs is excusatory and not needed when we have video available like we do now.Players need to re-learn how to respect the Refs and each other again….the 2 ref system is excusatory and causes negotiation which ruins the games flow and the officials message.There is NO ROOM FOR THE 2ND REF.
Video never lies so lets accomodate its optimal usage ASAP by putting a real NHL Ref on the sidelines with full data acess and some 2ndary power to change the game.Players will stop screwing each other IMMEDIATLY when there is another Ref with video acess who can call headshots and dangerous plays AFTER THE PLAY BEGINS AGAIN on the next stoppage.

Either the sticks or Goalie equipment has to go because without resurgance of exciting offense NHL hockey will not continue to grow as it should.Pinning he puck on he boards drawing a face-off IN ALL ZONES MUST BE RE-INSTATED….removing FOs irrepairbly removed offense and excitement and JOBS from NHL hockey.Put back icing, and CALL dangerous plays on the boards now every time with a 4-5 minute penalty….make dangerous plays to costly to do but we need the excitement and hustle and urgency to re-ignie NHL offense.Poor Gary…he actually figured removing Fos would speed up the game nd create MORE offense?Jeepers.1/2 the excitement from a lifetime of hockey revolves around Face-offs and the bigger the game the BIGGER THE SUSPENSE… who in their right mind would try to argue that FOs do not CATALYSE OFFENSE…OMG how deluded have we become.Bettman is ccountable for a lot of this Sheeple behaviour by Fans.We let him corrupt our game and we will not fight to have it restored.

Player respect is driven like everyhing else by the Officials interpretation of the rule book in view of unfolding circumstances.This is a one-man job.You need to know the Ref means business and only ONE INERPRETATION IS NEEDED to produce OPTIMAL CLARITY between the Refs message and the Players undestanding of it.

We live in a world with instant video from multiple angles availble to the fans in real-time….we CANNOT HAVE Officials making counter-calls ….not anymore…so dump one of them onto the bench and give them the hammer to get involved to CORRECT on-ice calls and to actually CALL headshots and dives and dangerous play/ intent to injure type of calls.

I find it disturbing that we can all be manipulated into buying a single one-dimensional doctored by ommision version of events we all saw with our own eyes and which we can repeatedly see on replays.

Intentions aside…..we all SAW the corkscrewing of Conners center of gravity catalysed at his right hip…unequivocally we witnessed this event….NO WE DO NOT know what the men involved were thinking,but we have evidence of what they were doing on video.

Yes a call should have been made.

Yes it was a disrespectfull/dirty/dangerous play to corkscrew Conner under those circumstances…there was nothing in place dynamiclly to catalyse respect .He wasnt looking to injure IMHO but he was looking to make Conner PAY A PRICE BY USING AN ILLEGAL TACTIC to turn him and drive him into the boards.

All we do by not telling it as the eyes see it is give PC..Mac-L..Bettman…Refs…offending disrespectfull player…Conners uninvolved out of touch unfocused unresponsive teammates an excusatory out.

Yes , right, dump eveything at the 18 year olds feet huh?

Truth brings positive change.

Conner was pushing for offense on the PK,he had a firm opportunity to score,he had support and he had a bead on his line up-ice,he was already using his teammates and their dynamic positioning impacts on the defense he was challenging to set everything before he transited the n-zone.Maybe the Process dictated the support peel of no matter what and his caused to Conner be allowed to go it alone,the replay shows everyone on the ice watching things transpire,even the guy who booked on Conner was watching as he coasted to the bench.Maybe Conner was messaged to abandon the rush as part of the process but didnt listen ,however even this doesnt remove the causality which was a hand on his hip.

Mac-L can answer to that one.

The d-man was beaten wide,he was reaching from behind intending to make Conner PAY A PRICE for beating him,his hand was where it was with intentions.

The Player and Officials can answer to that one.

Conner had already been mistreated early in the season when he was ripped out of a scrum by the head and neck and tossed aside with NO RESPONSE and with THE ENTIRE WORLD and EVER NHL PLAYER WATCHING…the precedent to abuse him with no response from the Refs or his Teammates WAS SET IN STONE….and now it will be a helluva job to change his established perception we ALL ALLOWED TO HAPPEN and are now supporting when we REFUSE TO CALL THINGS AS THE EYES SEE THEM.

Every Oiler on the roster can answer to this one.

I am willing to bust balls to defend Conner and his value to an NHL desperate for renewed offense and excitement.Disrespectfull opponents balls ,derelict Refs balls,Bettmans balls,Katzes,PCs,Mac-Ls,Oilers Players,Media pissants,fellow fans who refuse to call it straight and want to have their oppositionally defiant and regressive opinions heard .

This is nothing new to me or NewAge….it is called the love of the game.

It is sad to see the state of NHL coverage both MSM and online….there is no co-operation or congruency when this exact co-operation would be so incredibly good for the game.In case some of us missed it Mac-L commented on how the quality of the Press the Wings worked with contributed to their overall sucess.Edmonton needs to come together to support this Team and it has to begin somewhere,truth has to begin somewhere,why not here?Thank god it seems things are changing for the better here on ON because we are finally seeing some willingness to come together and face the truth without letting online trolls and BS get in our way,this will only be good for the Oilers.We stick to the truth and trolls cannot have an impact with their oppositional defiance disguised as rightfull opinion,if we as Oilers fans stick to the truth as the eyes see it we WILL force positive change and be able to offer the Oilers our powerfull group insights congruently and accurately.

There is only ONE WAY things go down….we can discuss causality for enjoyment all day long…but the very SECOND we allow some oppositionally defiant mindset to force us to lie about the things our eyes see we become part of the problem not part of the solution.

No more party-line vanilla BS….we will NEVER WIN LIKE THAT because the lies will stop positive painfull changes from catalysing.

I absolutely accept that there was no call on a hand intentionally and illegally placed on Conners person which catalysed his fall by corkscrewing him causing his skate to bite against the grain sending him into a free-fall.I do NOT accept a “hockey play gone bad” or any other BS.I know what I saw.The eyes are different than the whys….they never lie.

It was a simple hockey play that led to a terrible accident..is a lot different than an illegal act not called by the refs or aknowledged by virtually anyone post-game that led to a devestating unnecessary injury.That hand on Conner was not accident nor incidental…it was intentional.The consequences at that point in time were unknown to all but he potenialities were certainly known by anyone who has watched or played hockey ,that was no accident,it was a consequence of intentional focused timed action.

Had penalty been called we would all be singing the right tune.

The Refs dereliction does not our ignorance of fact justify.

Yes,we must move on,agreed,but I move forward supporting ONLY ONE TRUTHFULL VERSION OF EVENTS,Conner was a vicim of a Process let-down,he was then a victim of his own Rookie push then he was a victim of oppositional rookie push and dangerous play then he was the victim of a missed penalty call and now he is the victim of some nutty oppositionally defiant story that eveything was “just a hockey play gone bad” .

Nope you dont get off my hook so easily.I am not dropping this on Conners shoulders.Not even once.His Rookie eagerness was no surprise so he has a mulligan.

Yes,we move on,but with a pocketfull of evidence we can and will be referring back to in the future.If we simply say nothing could have been done to avert this we welcome a repeat.Yes lots of people would prefer we simply call it a “hockey play gone wrong” and limp away…..but we cannot do that we are limping away no matter what so we must do it with a clear head and a pro-active plan to never revisit the moment.